Farewell
by GobiKitsune
Summary: Discontinued. Reason inside.
1. Beginnings

**I still hear your voice, when you sleep next to me…  
I still feel your touch in my dreams.  
Forgive me my weakness, but I don't know why…  
Without you it's hard to survive.**

**Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling.  
And every time we kiss, I swear I could fly.  
Can't you hear my heart beat fast, I want this to last.  
Need you by my side.**

* * *

_"Same as always…" Sakura sighed and shifted slightly. Naruto quietly heaved for air, still remaining in his unconscious state. Yamato stared at the kunoichi, his eyes full of empathy._

_"I can only do the smallest things for Naruto." Sakura gasped somewhat loudly. She narrowed her eyes, but continued healing the fallen fox-boy. _

_Sakura did her best to hold back her tears, but two things were bothering her. The fact that she was unable to stop Naruto at his four-tailed state, and the wound on her arm. Sure, he didn't mean to give it to her, but that didn't stop the severe stinging that it caused._

_"It's not what you _do _for Naruto that's important," Yamato began, "It's how strongly you _feel _about him that counts." He grunted, "Sakura, I can tell just by looking at you… The truth is you-" Sakura's feeling for Naruto were about to be openly spoken._

Sakura's head shot up. She panted, and ran her hand down her face. It was perfectly drenched with sticky sweat. Sakura sighed, and looked over to the side. Pitch black darkness absorbed the streets of Konoha. A few lights were shining through the dark, a desperate attempt to brighten the overall night. The dark was to thick to penetrate, though.

Sakura bit her lower lip, _"Another nightmare." _It was the same one she has been having for the past week. A dark figure follows her, knowing her every move, and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. A deep red claw reaches over Sakura, and manages to dig it's nails into her flesh. Blood spurts out of her wound, and the claw soaks it up, becoming even more vibrant. Sakura only sees the figures face before she slips into her unconscious state, which was actually consciousness. She was waking up from a dream, after all. The face had piercing crimson eyes, with pupils similar to that of a cat. A wide smile was spread, with dagger-sharp fangs poking out of his mouth. The bloodlust was overwhelming, and instantly scared Sakura. She knew who that was, the one in all of these horrid dreams.

Naruto.

Sakura let herself fall back onto her pillow, pink hair flying in with ever way it pleases. She began to stare blankly at the ceiling of her room, the empty space of nothingness… She just couldn't stop thinking about what happened at that fateful encounter with Orochimaru. Just the thought of it bothered Sakura too much to bear.

"Naruto…" She hadn't seen him or a while now, or Yamato for that matter. They were too busy perfecting Naruto's "Ultimate Jutsu." Augh, they would have to finish it by tomorrow, otherwise Team 7... What's left of Team 7 wouldn't be able to back up the Akatsuki battle with Shikamaru and the others. It's impossible._ "Naruto would never be able to pull it off…"_

**"What?!" **Inner Sakura screamed, **"How could you say that about him? You love him, and you know that."** Sakura's eyes quickly flashed open, but they closed once more after a brief silence. Soon, the silence enveloped Sakura, and she drifted into a deep sleep.

* * *

**The Next Morning**

"GODDAMN IT!" A frustrated cry echoed through the air, and startled a few birds away. A blond rubbed his arm, wincing. A few gashes were stretched across it, and blood slowly dripped onto the ground. A dark haired Jounin stood of to the side, frowning. He didn't move, or say anything. There wasn't any reason to do so.

Naruto fell to his knees, gritting his teeth painfully. The dark red blood continued to flow, but in much smaller amounts. Yamato, sighed, and walked over to the fallen Genin. (AN: Yes, I'm still bitter about the whole Genin thing.)

"You know, if you channeled your chakra better you might be able to pull it off." Yamato said, but Naruto heard more of an insult.

"Hn." Naruto growled. He had used up damn near all of his chakra, for the various clones, and trying to pull the technique off. Yamato's smartass remarks weren't helping.

Yamato narrowed his eyes. He was disappointed at the blond. He could do so much more, with his near infinite chakra, and yet we was already giving up.

_"Why don't you use the Kyuubi's chakra?" _Naruto perked up. He looked over at Yamato, like he was insane. Even after he gained a fourth tail, Yamato wanted him to risk his humanity just to get chakra? Hell no!

"Never again…" Naruto grumbled. Yamato furrowed his eyebrows.

"You know, if you didn't fear the Kyuubi so much, you could harness an amazing amount of chakra." Yamato stated in a matter-of-fact sort of way.

"But I- But I can't…" Naruto started.

**_"What are you afraid of, brat?" _**Naruto's eyes widened as the voice echoed in his head. **_"You shouldn't be so stubborn. I would like you to use my chakra, that way I can at least be able to taste the blood of the people you decide to slaughter." _**Naruto bit his lower lip. Kyuubi's bloodlust disturbed him, beyond anything. **_"Heh, at some point, you know, this horrid seal will break, and I'll be free to destroy your pathetic village. _**Kyuubi cackled. He was just _begging _for Naruto to use his chakra. But Naruto couldn't, ever. He wasn't going to risk anyone's life.

Naruto snapped back into the real world, as the evil voice drained from his head. Yamato continued to stare at him, as if he was trying to ask him what's wrong. Naruto turned his head, and gripped his arm. The blood had stopped, and the wound was near healed.

* * *

**In Konoha**

Tsunade folded her arms across her desk. Her face was kept at a serious tone, which would intimidate anyone who got on her nerves. Her eyes lazily moved over to the side, looking at Sakura, who had just walked into the room.

"I see you've made it, Sakura." The Godaime said.

Sakura nodded, "Tsunade-sama, why did you call me so early?" She kept a soft gaze at her sensei.

"I've called you here to inform you that Team 7 has been assigned a new mission…" Tsunade began. Sakura was confused. Why did the Hokage summon her just to tell her something so… insignificant? "To invade Akatsuki."

Sakura's heart skipped a beat.

"Yamato has told me that Naruto's new technique isn't perfected yet, but it's strong enough that you'll be able to back up Team 8." Tsunade finished, closing her eyes.

Sakura didn't know what to say, or even think. It was wonderful that Naruto can perform his technique and all, but if the same thing happens to him as when he fought Orochimaru… She did her best not to think about it, although, it was impossible.

"Sakura." Tsunade narrowed her eyes. The pink-haired kunoichi was distracted by something, and that something must have been really important to stain her mind. Tsunade was surprised, she assumed Sakura would have been happy with the news.

Sakura blinked, adverting her mind from those horrible thoughts, and replied to her sensei, "Hai, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade nodded briefly. Today was going to be a very, very long day…

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

_"What's with him today? It's not like him to be so quiet." _Yamato thought to himself as he, and Naruto, headed back toward Konoha. The sunlight was severely dulled by the thick clouds that seemed to loom over the two. Naruto had an unusually straight face on. His eyes seemed blank, as if there was no life in him at all. Yamato narrowed his dark eyes, and pulled his gaze away from the blond Genin.

_"What's wrong with you, Naruto?"_ Yamato thought quietly.

* * *

**ZOMG! It's my first Naruto fanfiction! Well, I had fun writing (typing) this, but I can't say that there will be another chapter out soon. I'm busy, I can only get on the computer on weekends, and I usually work on this when I'm bored. :D So yeah.**

** Either way, chapter two will be out at some point!**

**...Gobi  
**


	2. You're Not Alone

**Remember the time,  
When you here inside my dreams  
I wish you'll be mine   
You're understanding what I mean  
Discover and see,  
That you're the only one for me  
Together we'll be free  
That's how it's meant to be  
**

* * *

"Na- Naruto-kun!" A small voice attempted to yell out. 

The blond turned, his blue orbs of eyes staring at Hinata, who had just passed by with her teammates.

"Oh, uh, hey Hinata." Naruto said, gently scratching the back of his head. Hinata blushed, immediately staring down at her feet. Kiba paused, and took a few steps back to her.

"Naruto-kun, I was wond- wondering if you" Hinata began.

"Hinata, we have to go, remember? Tsunade-sama's orders." Kiba interrupted, urging the Hyuuga girl along. Naruto raised a brow. Tsunade-baachan? What would Tsunade be taking Kurenai's place for?

"Oh, uh, right. Sorry about this, Naruto-kun…" Hinata trailed off, bowing slightly.

"Eheh, it's okay Hinata, dattebayo." Naruto grinned slightly, adding a friendly "Dattebayo," to add to the mood of things. His voice sounded a little depressed, as if something was clawing in his mind. Hinata nodded, and bounded after Shino, who was much farther ahead than Kiba and herself. Kiba looked over his shoulder at the blond.

_"What's his issue?"_

Naruto stood there, watching, until he finally broke his own stare, and began walking in the opposite direction. He kept his head low, ignoring the random hateful glares the villagers sent him. Who cares about them anyway? Naruto wouldn't be here to deal with them

* * *

**Tsunade's Office**

"So, I assume that your team is ready to go, am I right?" Tsunade asked, her fingers interloped.

"Hai, Godaime-sama." Yamato nodded, "Sai's ready; Sakura's gathering her tools, and Naruto's… Well, he's ready as well." The Jounin said, keeping a safe stare on nothing.

"Good, you will head out the moment the team gathers in the Konoha square." Tsunade finished, giving a farewell nod to Yamato. He grunted, and walked away, as he was about to close the door, Tsunade quickly spoke, "Be careful." Yamato paused for a moment, then continued out.

Tsunade sighed once she was left alone in her office. _"Be careful, Naruto."_ With the one last thought, she began going through her paperwork.

* * *

**Outside of Hi no Kuni**

"So, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki has finally decided to come out, eh?" A dark voice cackled.

"Hai, there's not going to be any other opportunity like this one. We must capture him now!" Another, slightly weaker sounding, voice exclaimed.

"Patience…" The darker voice replied, his body masked by the shadows, "We can't rush these things, it'll all fall into place soon enough." He sounded too casual. The other figure in the dark uniform nodded, and disappeared from sight.

"Akatsuki will be unstoppable with the Kyuubi in our hands." One last sentence echoed throughout the liar, which would send chills up the spine of the bravest Kage.

* * *

**Somewhere Way Outside the Konoha Gates**

"Sakura-chaaan…" Naruto whined, "Do you have to stop every five minutes?" He shoved his hands into his pockets.

Sakura stood up, and shot back, "I'm not stopping every five minutes! Got that? I just have to make sure that we're not being followed!" She clenched a fist.

Naruto sneered quietly, "If we _are _being followed, then they would have killed us all by now." Sakura, overhearing this, instantly introduced Naruto to her fist.

"GAH!" Naruto cried out as he quickly clutched his head. Sai stood off to the side, next to Yamato.

_"Hmm…this is what friends do to each other?" _Sai mused in his head. Yamato simply shook his,

"Guys, if you can't work together, then this mission will be a failure." Yamato scolded the two. Sakura sighed, and her eyes slightly narrowed, but showing softness in them instead of irritation. Naruto stood back up, still rubbing the sore spot on his blond head.

After an uncomfortable silence, Team 7 took off once more. This time, hopefully, the results of the mission wouldn't end up like the last. (AN: Trust me though, I wish it would.)

Various trees flew by, birds as well, before the forest began to slowly break away from the horizon. The area soon lost all vegetation, and became a rocky landscape. The trees grew less frequent, and some of them appeared to be dead. Small streams of dirtied water ran down the sides of steep mountain and hills, but soon faded away as it absorbed into the ground. The clouds scattered, and sunlight poured onto the earth. Beams of light shone against the metal of the shinobis' headbands, giving them a glowing appearance.

Sakura squinted, trying to get a better view of where she was leaping. Naruto peered over at the kunoichi, becoming quickly distracted by her body. That figure… Sai stared at Naruto for a moment, as if he was waiting for him to run into a tree. Wait, he was. Sakura, feeling eyes drilling into her, turned her head towards Naruto. The blonde's eyes widened and he quickly looked in front of himself, with an innocent expression spread across his face. Sakura's eyes narrowed, and Sai was disappointed. Yamato simply shook his head, like they were all crazy idiots.

"Look over there." Sakura told her teammates, motioning with her head.

Naruto looked to the side where Sakura had pointed out, and spotted strands of smaller pools of blood. They weren't too old, either. It appeared as if someone had been wounded there only a couple hours ago. Sai looked ahead, as if trying to track where the blood was heading to.

"We're almost there." Naruto said grimly.

A light purple blur flashed through the trees, making Sakura's head snap around. She narrowed her aqua eyes, before seeing two more blurs fly by her. She thought for a moment, before finally shouting, "Hinata! Kiba! Shino!"

Naruto's attention was quickly pulled from where he was going, again, and to the side. One of the blurs hesitated, and came up along side Sakura. Yeah, it was Hinata.

"Oh, Sakura-san." She said. Kiba and Akamaru soon came up behind Naruto, an arrogant grin spread across Kiba's face.

"Heh, I didn't know you were heading this way." He said, looking at the blond.

"Well, we were assigned to back up Shikamaru and the others…" Naruto began.

Kiba blinked, "Nani? We were assigned the same thing." Shino finally was seen, but he just kept a steady pace, not bothering to say anything to the group.

_"Nani?! Why the hell were they given the same mission as us?!" _Naruto growled in his head. He was a little angry that another squad was told to join them on the mission. The blond assumed that Team 7 was to go alone…

Kiba noticed the glare he was receiving, and looked back in front of him. "Sheesh, if you didn't like us being here then you should have said so."

Naruto winced slightly, feeling guilty about being cruel to Kiba. He didn't do anything wrong, it's just that… It was a blow on his pride.

"No, no, Kiba. You're fine, I just… Well… Yeah, dattebayo." Naruto stammered, trying to think of an excuse to redeem himself. Kiba smirked.

Yamato peered over his shoulder, and not surprisingly, there wasn't anything there. It was strange for Tsunade to allow a ninja squad to leave without their sensei…

"Hey, Hinata." The shinobi called the Hyuuga, she turned her head, "Yes, Yamato-sensei?" He blinked at her, obvious to how she knew who he was. And that "sensei" at the end… "Did anyone else come with you?" He asked.

Hinata dropped her head, and shook her head. "No, we came alone."

_"Alone…"_ "Where's Kurenai?" Yamato added to his previous question.

Hinata didn't take very much time before responding, "Kurenai-sensei said she couldn't go on anymore missions for a while… She didn't say why." Yamato frowned.

Naruto frowned as well, but for another reason. He landed finally, in front of the whole group. He felt a brief queasiness rise up in him, but it settled. In front of him… Team 10, and his sensei, who looked like he was in pretty bad shape. His headband was gone, and so was his vest. Hell, part of his mask was ripped from his face. They were staring at the two Akatsuki members, both of them braced for combat. But something else caught his eye that he wasn't expecting… On a small ledge not to far from where they were standing… Was Uchiha Itachi. A whispered curse briefly slipped from Naruto's lips.

He had encounters with the Uchiha before, sure, but he wasn't nearly as prepared for battle as he once was. But even then, they were all severely outmatched by Itachi. He easily put Naruto into a horrible Genjutsu with the blink of an eye. Literally. But it's the fact that Team 10 didn't even notice Itachi standing there. That, or they didn't care. (AN: Ha! Rhymes.) That would be their downfall.

Naruto landed directly in front of Kakashi, while Sakura, Sai, and Team 8 were slightly spread around him. Yamato stood off to the side, as if waiting for the blond to immediately jump into action.

No, he wasn't planning on that this time. Not again.

Naruto's face remained straight as he spoke, "I hope were not too late."

* * *

**Yes, I'm tormenting you with a cliffhanger. Bwahahah! (Cough) Anywho, yep, chapter two is finally done. Now I have to get started on the third chapter, which is when the real fun begins. Expect for violence, Kyuubi, and all those other awesome things, in the future. **

**Trust me, I won't leave any of the good stuff out of this fanfiction.**

**...Gobi**


	3. AN Reason for Discontinue

Yep. I am discontinuing this story after a long absence. I deeply apologize to those who were patiently waiting for chapter three, but it's not coming out.

I don't like the way this fanfiction is running (I don't like the choice of words, length, twists, etc), and so I plan to completely start over with it. It won't be manga based, but it will be _much_ longer and better.

Again, I apologize. Happy reading!


End file.
